Idle thought
How difficult would it be to get a small computer with voice recognition that could be programmed to mute the TV sound whenever certain sportscasters came on; you know, like Bob Costas?
June 19th
Today is the birthday
… of Gena Rowlands. She’s 79. Miss Rowlands has been nominated for the best actress Oscar twice — A Woman Under the Influence (1974) and Gloria (1980).
… of Salman Rushdie. He’s 62.
He resurrected a minor character from a novel that he had abandoned, a character born at the midnight moment of India’s independence. He placed this character, Saleem Sinai, at the center of his new work. He said, “Then Saleem, ever a striver for meaning, suggested to me that the whole of modern Indian history happened as it did because of him; that history, the life of his nation-twin, was somehow all his fault.”
Rushdie returned to England out of money. He got his copywriting job back on a part-time basis, working two or three days a week, splitting the job with another aspiring writer …
After he completed the manuscript for Midnight’s Children in 1979 and sent it to his editor, he learned that the first reader had reported after reading the thick manuscript: “The author should concentrate on short stories until he has mastered the novel form.” But the second reader was more enthusiastic, and the book was published in 1981 to great acclaim. It won the Booker Prize and marked Rushdie as one of the most important fiction writers of his generation.
The above excerpted from The Writer’s Almanac, which has much more. Midnight’s Children is on those book lists we’ve been discussing.
… of Phylicia Rashad. Clair Hanks Huxtable is 61. (Bill Cosby, Dr. Huxtable, is 11 years older.)
… of Kathleen Turner. She’s 55. Miss Turner was nominated for the best actress Oscar for Peggy Sue Got Married (1986).
… of Paula Abdul. She’s 47. A former Lakers cheerleader, Miss Abdul had six number one records 1988-1991. She topped the charts for 15 weeks altogether.
Lou Gehrig was born on June 19 in 1903.
Lou Gehrig teamed with Babe Ruth to form baseball’s most devastating hitting tandem ever. “The Iron Horse” had 13 consecutive seasons with both 100 runs scored and 100 RBI, averaging 139 runs and 148 RBI; set an American League mark with 184 RBI in 1931; hit a record 23 grand slams; and won the 1934 Triple Crown. His .361 batting average in seven World Series led the Yankees to six titles. A true gentleman and a tragic figure, Gehrig’s consecutive games played streak ended at 2,130 when he was felled by a disease that later carried his own name.
Gehrig died in 1941. As Christopher Moltisanti of The Sopranos puts it, “You ever think what a coincidence it is that Lou Gehrig died of Lou Gehrig’s disease?”
Moses Horwitz was born on June 19th 112 years ago. That’s the boss stooge, Moe Howard. “I’ll squeeze the cider out of your Adam’s apple.”
The Statue of Liberty arrived at Bedloe’s Island in New York harbor on June 19, 1885.
The statue is constructed of hand-shaped copper sheets, assembled on a framework of steel supports designed by engineers Eugene-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc and Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel. For transit to America, the figure was broken down into 350 separate pieces and packed in 214 crates. The Statue of Liberty sits within the star-shaped walls of the former Fort Wood, rising to a height of 305 feet on a pedestal designed by architect Richard Morris Hunt.
Best redux line of the day
“I was going to buy a copy of The Power of Positive Thinking, and then I thought: What the hell good would that do?”
Ronnie Shakes
Friday stuff
“On Thursday, the Washington Post confirmed it had fired liberal online columnist Dan Froomkin. On Friday, they gave a guest column to Bush war architect Paul Wolfowitz.”
“In Prof. Chen’s study, although a third of consumers bought extended-service contracts, only 8% used them at least once. She said that many of those who bought the contract but didn’t use it defended their choice by claiming it gave them peace of mind.”
Saving money gives me peace of mind. During my time in retail, I can’t tell you how much pressure was on us to sell extended-service contacts.
Two great links from Elise:
Golf line of the morning
“Tiger made two double bogeys in the first round last year at Torrey Pines and still won.”
Dan Jenkins on Tiger’s two double bogeys in round one this year (+4 for the first round).
Need your heart warmed?
My sensitive side shows with these two. Hey, I can’t be cranky all the time.
The New York Times
1. The Times should hire Dan Froomkin.
2. The Times has the Times Wire, a very good way to keep up. It’s updated constantly, blog style, as articles are posted on the Times web site. The Times Wire has a very useful RSS feed, too.
3. The Times has also just updated its Article Skimmer. The layout makes it easier for you to see lots of articles, with an abstract, by section, and click on them. I am used to the Times home page, but this really is more newspaper-like.
Got to give them credit. The Times has done as much or more than any publication to adapt to the internet.
The Washington Post fires its best columnist
The Washington Post … just fired WashingtonPost.com columnist, long-time Bush critic and Obama watchdog (i.e., a real journalist) Dan Froomkin.
What makes this firing so bizarre and worthy of inquiry is that … Froomkin was easily one of the most linked-to and cited Post columnists. At a time when newspapers are relying more and more on online traffic, the Post just fired the person who, in 2007, wrote 2 out of the top 10 most-trafficked columns. In publishing that data, Media Bistro used this headline: “The Post’s Most Popular Opinions (Read: Froomkin).” Isn’t that an odd person to choose to get rid of?
Glenn Greenwald elaborates. Froomkin was one of the few remaining reasons to read the Post.
When a pilot dies mid-flight
Salon’s Patrick Smith (Ask the Pilot) explains.
Best line of the day on economics
“No.”
Robert Reich answering the question: Does the Obama Plan for Reforming Wall Street Measure Up?
Best U.S. Open line of the day
“Play was just suspended for the day. There’s so much water on the 18th hole that Michael Phelps couldn’t par it.”
Jenkins also had this: “Five things that can ruin an Open: Weather, traffic, Jack Fleck, Steve Jones and power-hungry volunteers manning the crosswalks.”
One, two and five apply to just about any event.
The problem with best lists
The problem with best book lists — like the ones discussed here the past two days — is, I think, the use of the word “best.”
Best is the superlative of good, but otherwise it has no specificity.
Is the best pitcher in the league the one with the most strikeouts, the best ERA, the highest salary, or the most wins?
Is the best film the one that takes in the most money, has the most critical acclaim, or wins the Oscar?
Is the best place to live the one with the most jobs, the mildest climate, or the best coffee shops and pubs?
Is the best novel the one taught in the most literature courses, published in more editions, or celebrated each June 16th?
I would argue that the best novels of a century have to transcend being a book. They have to have been discussed continuously since they were published.
There is, for example, a scene in The Wire in prison where they discuss The Great Gatsby.
D’Angelo Barksdale:
He’s saying that the past is always with us. Where we come from, what we go through, how we go through it, all this shit matters. Like at the end of the book, ya know, boats and tides and all. It’s like you can change up, right, you can say you’re somebody new, you can give yourself a whole new story. But, what came first is who you really are and what happened before is what really happened. It don’t matter that some fool say he different cuz the things that make you different is what you really do, what you really go through.
The best novels may not be the best to read or the most enjoyable, or anyone’s favorite. And they may indeed have been written mostly by now dead white men. The language can be difficult; the cadence unfamiliar. But they are larger than that. To mention two 19th century classics, Moby Dick is not just a book about whaling; Huck Finn is not just a book about a boy and a river.
The fact that a novel is on the Modern Library best list is — in a way — almost validation that it should be on the list.
Best line of the day, so far
“Anyone else out there find himself doubled over laughing after reading Goldman, Sachs chief Lloyd Blankfein’s ‘apology’ for his bank’s behavior leading up to the financial crisis? Has an act of contrition ever in history been more worthless and insincere? Even Gary Ridgway did a better job of sounding genuinely sorry at his sentencing hearing — and he was a guy who had sex with dead prostitutes because it was cheaper than paying live ones.”
Blankfein’s apology: “While we regret that we participated in the market euphoria and failed to raise a responsible voice, we are proud of the way our firm managed the risk it assumed on behalf of our client before and during the financial crisis.”
Taibbi deconstructs it, phrase by phrase.
Where will you meet your Waterloo?
Napoleon met his Waterloo at the Belgian village of Waterloo on this date in 1815.
The BBC has a concise history of the battle beginning with this introduction:
The Battle of Waterloo was fought thirteen kilometres south of Brussels between the French, under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the Allied armies commanded by the Duke of Wellington from Britain and General Blücher from Prussia. The French defeat at Waterloo drew to a close 23 years of war beginning with the French Revolutionary wars in 1792 and continuing with the Napoleonic Wars from 1803. There was a brief eleven-month respite when Napoleon was forced to abdicate, exiled to the island of Elba. However, the unpopularity of Louis XVIII and the economic and social instability of France motivated him to return to Paris in March 1815. The Allies soon declared war once again. Napoleon’s final defeat at Waterloo marked the end of the Emperor’s final bid for power, the so-called ‘100 Days’, and the final chapter in his remarkable career.
Defeat at Waterloo ended Napoleon’s reign. He was exiled to the island of St. Helena where he died in 1821 at age 51.
Egypt
It was on this day in 1953 that Egypt was officially declared an independent republic. It had been occupied by various foreign powers for 2,000 years, including by Persians, Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines, Ottoman Turks, Napoleon Bonaparte-led French, the servant-king Mamluks, and most recently the British.
Above from The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor, which has a quick but informative history.
June 18th
Among the millions celebrating their birthday today are …
Lou Brock, who’s 70.
Recognized as one of the most gifted base runners in baseball, Lou Brock helped to revolutionize the art and science of this element of the game as he totaled 938 stolen bases during his 19-year career. A six-time All-Star selection, Brock also accumulated more than 3,000 hits to help lead the St. Louis Cardinals to three National League pennants and two World Series championships. Although his stolen base records have been eclipsed, the National League honors each year’s stolen base leader with the Lou Brock Award.
Sir Paul McCartney. He’s 67.
Between his work with the Beatles and as a solo artist and leader of Wings, McCartney has written or cowritten more than 50 Top Ten singles. With and without Wings, McCartney has been extremely prolific, averaging an album a year since the appearance of McCartney. Moreover, he’s been eclectic as well, not only recording pop and rock but also dabbling in various classical forms and ambient dance music. In the post-Beatles era McCartney has cracked the Top Forty 35 times. When combined with the Beatles’ 49 Top Forty U.S. singles, it is a matter of statistical fact that Paul McCartney is the most successful pop-music composer ever and the second greatest hitmaker, behind Elvis Presley. Without question he is one of the most important musicians of the 20th century.
The first film critic to win the Pulitizer Prize for distinguished criticism, Roger Ebert is 67 today.
Best actress Oscar nominee Carol Kane is 57.
So is Isabella Rossellini, the daughter of the two legends, Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman.
Bruce Smith is 46 today. Smith was Virginia Tech’s first great football player.
George Mikan was born on June 18 in 1924. At 6-10 Mikan was the first “big man” in basketball leading the Minneapolis Lakers to five NBA titles in six years. The widening of the lane, the NBA shot clock and the rule against defensive goaltending were brought about by Mikan’s dominance. He was named one of the 50 best ever in the NBA in 1996. George Mikan died in 2005.
That’s Mikan with Abdul-Jabbar and Shaq.
Emmy-award winning actor E.G. Marshall was born on June 18 in 1914. Marshall appeared in more than 100 television programs, most famously for The Defenders.
The famed oil firefighter Red Adair was born on June 18 in 1915. A generation ago Adair’s feats were well-known enough to inspire a John Wayne movie, Hellfighters.
Bud Collyer was born on June 18 in 1908. Collyer was the voice of Superman on the radio 1940-1951, but known better now as one of the first TV game show hosts, in particular for Beat the Clock.
Anastasia, the daughter of Nicholas II, would be 108 if she were alive today — as I’m sure somebody is claiming.
School’s out
School ended yesterday for the Virginia Sweeties and Mack, Aidan and Reid were off with Mom and Dad to Hershey Park.
Where it’s raining.
But not all is lost. Jill reports:
Well, steady rain last night – but never too hard. Most things were open and we got to ride 35 rides in our 2 1/2 hour preview (Hershey lets you come for the last 2 1/2 hours of the day if you are coming the next day). At least we had jackets and ponchos.
Looks like more of the same today. Trying to stay positive. We lose the whole awesome water park, but gain that the park is EMPTY. Last night I rode the Farenheit, which has normally a 2 hour wait. I walked on, and even walked on the front row. Then we came around and no one was waiting so I rode front row straight through again. It was crazy.
Hershey lists the elements for Farenheit: 90 degree ascent (121 feet) – 97 degree negative drop – inverted loop (107 feet) – inverted corkscrew roll, cobra element, airborne inverted s-roll – max speed: 58 mph.
Amazing times (to be retired)
I woke up around 6:15 this morning and by 6:30 decided to check in on the U.S. Open. I was able to watch the Woods-Cabrera-Harrington threesome live on my iPhone (they had a 6:06 tee time, Mountain Time).
Opting for juice and coffee, I’m watching them now, live on the fourth hole, on my iMac.
TV coverage begins at 8.
The U.S. Open has a free iPhone/iPod app with scores, video, course map, etc.
Best line of the day, so far
“If Mr. Obama hopes to create a regulatory environment that stands for another six decades, he is going to have to do what Roosevelt did once upon a time. He is going to have make some bankers mad.”
Angriest cities to drive
Cities with the worst road rage:
1. New York City
2. Dallas/Ft. Worth
3. Detroit
4. Atlanta
5. Minneapolis/St. Paul
Cities with the least angry drivers:
1. Portland, OR
2. Cleveland
3. Baltimore
4. Sacramento
5. Pittsburgh
Dan Jenkins (danjenkinsgd)
The great, great sports writer Dan Jenkins is on Twitter for the U.S. Open, his 200th major golf tournament.
Another stupid book list
The 100 Essential New England Books
Moby Dick is number one.
Most times-they-are-a-changin’ lines of the day
“BOULDER — Boulder police are investigating whether more people were involved in a Tuesday afternoon robbery of a medical-marijuana distributor in Boulder.”
. . .
“A clinic employee told police two men posing as customers robbed New Options of cash, two 20-gallon barrels of marijuana and its surveillance equipment just after 3:30 p.m.”
New iPhone Is Better Model — Or Just Get OS 3.0
Walt Mossberg has everything you need to know about the new iPhone and iPhone software.
Update: The find my iPhone feature (with iPhone 3.0 and a MobileMe account) is pretty freakin’ cool. You sign-on to MobileMe from any browser, send your phone a banner message (like call me at such-and-such hotel), an optional signal that will sound on the phone even if the phone is locked (so the cab driver hears it from the back seat), and there’s an option to delete your data from the phone.